5 Chest drains
Background
Chest drains are placed for the drainage of pleural space collections. These may include pneumothoraces (Chapter 18), pleural effusions (Chapter 20) and haemothoraces in trauma patients.
Radiological features
CXRs are performed for a number of reasons:
2. To monitor the response of the pathology to drainage – serial CXRs are often performed in these patients. Often the duration of tube drainage is determined by the CXR appearances.